light machine gun

The FN Minimi, one of the most popular modern 5.56 mm light machine guns among NATO countries.

Heckler & Koch MG4 of the German Army.

Bren light machine gun.

.30-.06 BAR Model 1918

A light machine gun or LMG is a machine gun designed to be carried and fired by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, and used in a front-line infantry support role. LMGs are often used as squad automatic weapons.

A light machine gun may be identified either by the weapon or by its tactical role. It is used to fire in short bursts, usually from a bipod: a sustained-fire mount such as a tripod is a characteristic of a medium machine gun. Some machine guns - notably General purpose machine guns - may be deployed as either a light machine gun or a medium machine gun. As a general rule, if a machine gun is deployed with a bipod it is a light machine gun; if deployed on a tripod it is a medium machine gun - unless it has a caliber of about 10mm or larger, making it a heavy machine gun. Modern light machine guns often fire smaller-caliber cartridges than medium machine guns, and are usually lighter and more compact.

Light machine guns, such as the British Lewis, were first introduced in World War One to boost the firepower of the infantry. By the end of World War II, light machine guns were usually being issued on a scale of one per section or squad, and the modern infantry squad had emerged with tactics that were built around the use of LMGs.

It is possible to fire a light machine gun from the hip or on the move, but this is seldom accurate. They are usually fired from a prone position using a bipod. Many light machine guns (such as the Bren gun or the BAR) were magazine-fed. Others, such as the MG 34, could be fed either from a belt or a magazine. Modern light machine guns are designed to fire more rounds of a smaller caliber and as such tend to be belt-fed. Some LMGs, such as the Russian RPK, are modifications of existing assault rifle designs. Adaptations generally include a larger magazine, a heavier barrel to resist overheating, a more robust mechanism to support sustained fire and a bipod. Other modern light machine guns, such as the FN Minimi, are capable of firing from either an ammunition belt or a detachable box magazine.

Selected examples

A Romanian soldier instructs a U.S. Marine in clearing an RPK during the weapons familiarization phase of Exercise Rescue Eagle 2000 at Babadag Range, Romania, on July 15, 2000.

The following were either exclusively light machine guns, had a light machine gun variant or were employed in the light machine gun role with certain adaptations:

1900s–1940s

• Madsen machine gun (Multi-caliber)
• Bergmann MG15 nA Gun (7.92 x 57mm)
• M1909 Benet-Mercie (.30-06 Springfield)
• Lewis Gun (.303 British)
• Bren (.303 British)
• Browning Automatic Rifle (.30-06 Springfield)
• Browning M1919A6 (LMG variant with stock and bipod)
• Fusil-Mitrailleur Mle 1915 'CSRG', 'Chauchat' light machine gun (8x50mmR Lebel)
• Degtyaryov light machine gun (7.62x54mm R)

1950s–1970s

• RPK (7.62x39mm)
• MG51 (7.5mm GP11)
• FN MAG (7.62x51mm NATO)
• FAL 50.41 & 50.42 (7.62x51mm NATO)
• L4A1 Bren (7.62x51mm NATO)
• M60 (7.62x51mm NATO)

1970s-present

• Steyr AUG H-BAR (5.56x45mm NATO)
• RPK-74 (5.45x39mm)
• FN Minimi (5.56x45mm NATO)
• IMI Negev (5.56x45mm NATO)
• CETME Ameli (5.56x45mm NATO)
• Heckler & Koch MG4 (5.56x45mm NATO)
• INSAS rifle (5.56x45mm NATO)
• M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (5.56x45mm NATO)
• Mk 48 Mod 0 (7.62x51mm NATO)
• Ultimax 100 (5.56x45mm NATO)
• L86 LSW (5.56x45mm NATO)
• Heckler & Koch MG36 (5.56x45mm NATO)

See also

• General purpose machine gun
• Medium machine gun
• Heavy machine gun
• Squad automatic weapon

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)